Free Before the Moon Rises by Catherine Bybee Page A

soaped it up
    and scrubbed it again and again.
    Exhausted, she put on a loose pair of pants and a large
    sweatshirt. With her hair drawn back in a ponytail, she walked
    to the kitchen for coffee.
    James handed her a cup and suggested she join him in
    Max's study. It was only midnight. They had hours to wait.
    Janet walked into the study for the first time. A bank of
    monitors took up the entire wall. Cameras pointed in every
    imaginable direction throughout the house.
    "Do you sit here every month?" she asked James.
    "Most months, Miss."
    "How long have you known that Max is a..." Oh, God. What
    was she suppose to call him?
    "A werewolf?"
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    Before the Moon Rises
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    A nervous laugh escaped her lips. "Yeah, I guess that's
    what he is."
    "I've served his family for the last thirty years, Miss."
    She put her coffee down. "Why?"
    James moved away, his eyes distant. "They saved my life."
    Not knowing what else to say, Janet sipped the hot brew
    and resigned herself to wait.
    Alarms and buzzers woke her from her restless sleep. She
    focused her fuzzy gaze over to James from her perch on the
    couch. He spoke to someone at the gate. She read the relief
    in his face.
    The images on the monitors showed several trucks
    overflowing with wolves coming onto the property. They were
    home.
    Within minutes, the living room filled to capacity with the
    pack that had fought by Max's side. Blood-marred hair clung
    to half of them, their wounds evidence that their fight had
    been vicious.
    Despite her trepidation, Janet searched them all for Max.
    Unable to locate him amongst the pack had her spinning in
    circles and renewing the effort.
    Finally, Richard walked in with Max at his side. He stopped
    in his tracks, their eyes caught and held.
    James approached from behind and handed her an
    armload of blankets.
    "What's this for?" she asked.
    He pointed to the horizon. "The sun is coming up."
    As he said the words, the room filled with deafening howls
    and everyone started to change.
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    The sea of hair quickly changed to a sea of naked people.
    Men and women, alike.
    Understanding, Janet started covering those who were
    closest with the blankets.
    Janet rushed around the room and realized the scene was
    becoming a massive triage. Several of the wounded needed
    immediate attention.
    "Richard," she called bringing looks from several of those
    who already walked about.
    Richard turned to her side.
    "I'm going to need sterile gauze, hydrogen peroxide,
    betadine and tape." Janet narrowed her eyes at him when he
    didn't move. "Now!" she yelled.
    Richard jumped back to gather what she demanded. Janet
    knelt down to the woman at her feet. The gash on her chest
    was deep, the bleeding significant.
    "Shhh, it's okay," she told the moaning woman. "Hold
    this." She placed the blanket to her side and pressed firm.
    Looking up, Janet saw another man with a bite to his face.
    She rushed to his side to see how bad it was.
    Two hours later, several people had been taken to local
    hospitals, while others left for home.
    Exhausted, Janet sat down and rested her head in her
    hands.
    "Here." Max came up behind her and set a cup of coffee in
    front of her. "You look like you could use this."
    She sat up and met his eyes. He had made himself useful
    during the ordeal of cleaning up his family's wounds, but he
    hadn't said a word to her since he changed.
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    "Why didn't you tell me?"
    He sat down. "You wouldn't have believed me."
    "You didn't give me a chance, Max. You lied to me."
    "I never lied to you."
    "Omitting the truth is the same as lying, and you know it!"
    He tried to place a calming hand on her shoulder. She shook
    him off and backed away. "I trusted you. Do you know how
    difficult it is for me to do that? What other dark secrets do
    you have?"
    His jaw tensed. "My being a werewolf is enough, don't you
    think?"
    "Your secret almost cost me my life."